Pistons get Wallace for reserves and picks

The Detroit Pistons got a lot better without giving a lot away, getting Rasheed Wallace from the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday in the most significant deal before the NBA trading deadline.

Pistons president Joe Dumars gave up a pair of first-round draft picks and four reserves -- Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca, Lindsey Hunter and Chucky Atkins -- in a three-way trade also involving the Boston Celtics.

A total of four trades were made Thursday, two apiece by the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic.

By far the biggest was the Wallace deal, which adds a talented offensive threat to a team that went to the conference finals last season and has the East's third-best record (34-22).

"Them getting Rasheed is a great thing. I'm happy for those guys," Knicks president Isiah Thomas said. "At least now there's a couple teams over here that can challenge Indiana and New Jersey."

The Pistons beat out the Knicks to obtain Wallace, putting together a package -- a No. 1 and a parcel of players with expiring contracts -- that was exactly what Atlanta wanted.

Detroit sent Rebraca and Sura to the Hawks, and Atkins and Hunter to the Celtics, and received Mike James from Boston. Atlanta gets Milwaukee's lottery-protected first-round pick, and Boston gets Detroit's No. 1 pick. The Hawks also received forward Chris Mills from the Celtics.

Wallace played only one game for the Hawks, who acquired him from Portland last week.

"He was a big fish on the market, and we did everything -- without tearing up the core of the team -- to try to get him," Thomas said. "If it was a talent-for-talent deal, we were in a pretty good position to play in that game. But that's not what they were looking for."

Thomas also was in negotiations with the Golden State Warriors for center Erick Dampier, but the teams could not agree on a deal.

Another team surprisingly idle was the Philadelphia 76ers, who turned down Orlando's offer of Gordan Giricek and Juwan Howard for Eric Snow.

Instead, Giricek was dealt from Orlando to Utah for guard DeShawn Stevenson and a future second-round pick. The Magic also dealt Shammond Williams to New Orleans for Sean Rooks.

Utah also acquired Tom Gugliotta, a pair of No. 1 picks and a 2005 second-round pick from Phoenix for Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten -- a deal that uses up all of the Jazz's salary cap space for this season. The two No. 1 picks formerly belonged to the Knicks, who sent them to Phoenix in the Stephon Marbury trade.

One consequence of the Suns-Jazz trade is that Utah no longer has the ability to claim center Michael Doleac off waivers. New York traded the 7-foot center to Atlanta last weekend in the deal that brought Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed to the Knicks, and the Knicks now hope to re-sign him.

Thomas, who brought in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to tutor his big men at practice Thursday, said the Knicks also are interested in signing Vin Baker after he clears waivers.

Among other trade-minded teams shut out were the Toronto Raptors, who are in danger of falling out of the playoff race after losing Vince Carter and Jalen Rose to injuries.

"There was nothing we could get done that made sense. We could have made some bad deals. There were no good deals out there," general manager Glen Grunwald said. "We were trying to get a veteran big guy. Those guys are more difficult to get."

Difficult for everyone except Dumars, who added Wallace to a starting frontcourt that already includes All-Star Ben Wallace and Mehmet Okur.

By shedding Atkins' contract, Dumars also positioned the Pistons far enough under the salary cap to offer Okur a market-value deal when he becomes a free agent this summer.

Dumars said Wallace's past problems never entered into his decision-making process, and coach Larry Brown was thrilled with the acquisition of a fellow former North Carolina Tar Heel.

"It gives us a real shot to compete at the highest level in the NBA right now," Dumars said.